₦airaland Forum

. The phases of growth, from misdirected thinking to right thinking, falls into these main groups. They have numerous other description, however, so an exact description of one's own may not be here. It will be close enough for you to recognize your own, in detail, from these broad outlines if you want to recognize it. By this time you ought to know that it is the only way to change circumstances you do not wish to be present in your life. Briefly, we'll list them, again:
. (1). Wrong thinking, causing as it does, physical, nervous, and mental handicaps, provides a way of escape from normal living. It allows a person to withdraw from normal activities and responsibilities. He thinks, deep in his heart, he is as capable as others. Deep down, he does not want to understand any teaching which would abolish his way of escape.
. (2). Wrong thinking which appears to offer benefits of some kind is not going to be given up. The person is likely to resist teachings which lead to the giving up of an error-producing thought process and to feel antagonistic to the teacher. He may try to win the sympathy or indulgence of the teacher. He may seek to discredit the motives of the teacher. He may attempt to put the responsibility for making decisions in everyday life on the teacher instead of changing his thinking process and dealing personally with the problem.



Sri Paul Twitchell
The Flute of God

. SOUL'S LESSONS On LOVE

. Soul, at some point, has to come back, no matter how hard life's experiences are here. Because this is an excellent place to learn about God's love. Not just receiving it, but giving it. This is the whole point of any true spiritual teaching, and this is also true of ECKankar: To teach, to show each Soul a balance between giving and receiving love in this life.



How To Survive Spiritually In Our Times
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master

. The Fabric of Love

. The Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad, which means Way of the Eternal, is the holy scripture of ECK. Book One refers to the Law of Love like this: " The law which all seek to know is the great principle of life. Its simplicity is amazing for it is summed up in this statement: Soul exists because God loves It. In other words, all life exists because God wills it. This is the very foundation of life, the whole of the philosophy of Eckankar. There is nothing more and nothing less."
. There are many different aspects of Eckankar: dreams, Soul Travel, the ECK-Vidya- which is prophecy - and then all the healing aspects. These are all part of the teachings of Eckankar. But the thing that binds them all together is love. It starts with you existing because God loved you, and God loves you. For that reason was the beginning of Soul.
. We are made in the image of God, and inwardly we have the creative spark which makes us godlike. But the creative spark must be turned to doing good.


How To Survive Spiritually In Our Times
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master

. Listen To God's Voice

. If God is God, then who are you?
. You're either a conscious or unconscious child of God. A lot of people are unconscious children of God when they presume to inflict their religion upon other people. It's the big head that says, "My God is bigger than your God," or "My religion is better than yours."
. There is one fact about religion, though: Your religion is best for you right now. That's basically all you can say about any religion. All you can speak about is your religion, and all you can say is that it's either the best for you right now or it's not. If it is the best for you, then you should be growing spiritually and enjoying life.
. You should be learning things that help you develop more love and compassion for other people in your family, and those you meet when you're out and about in your daily life. That's if your religion is working for you.
. If you're not doing these things, then find another one. Or leave religion entirely and maybe listen to the voice of nature.
. No matter what religion you belong to, or whether you belong to no religion at all, ultimately you are listening to the divine Voice of God within you - either by intuition, dreams, or direct experiences of the reality of the spiritual worlds.
. God's love is with you all the time. It's up to you to recognize it through the hard times and the good times.
. God's love is making you more of a spiritual being so that you can better understand the conditions and situation that other Soul, other lights of God, are going through too. In doing so, you are able to serve them and all life better.


How To Survive Spiritually In Our Times
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master

. Everything revolves around love. It always does. No matter how much we rush about in this world and how harried, ambitious, or sorrowful we become, the world stays together for some reason. This reason is God's love.
. God's love is the fabric that draws us all and keeps us here. It makes the world work, even though sometimes it looks like nothing is working at all.


How To Survive Spiritually In Our Times
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master

. Soul's Schooling

. The Holy Spirit begins to show the individual who he or she is. Before you can see what the Holy Spirit's ways are, you have to open your state of consciousness.
. Often the Holy Spirit has to open it. This is often done through the agent of the Inner Master, because people relate better to people. The Master is simply the matrix, or a form created out of this substance and stuff of the Holy Spirit, same as you.
. The only difference between the Master and you is that appearing to people and helping them spiritually is his job. It's his divine calling. That's why the Holy Spirit has put him in that place. God, or Sugmad- which is our name for God- has put this individual there to help Souls who are tired of karma and reincarnation.
. Karma means doing things that help you or hurt you. But whether it's good karma or bad karma, both tie you to this world.
. When people pass on, they generally go to the next heaven just above the earth plane. They go to school there. It's sort of a debriefing for their life on earth. Other people in the spiritual hierarchy are classroom instructors. When the person is settled in, they let them rest awhile, if they deserve it. If they don't, they come back to earth real quick.
. The instructors say "Let's go over the record and see what you've done."
. They look in the big book. They say, "Well you gained here spiritually, but you slipped here because of such and such. So, we're going to have to polish that up in the next lifetime." Then the individual begins a period of instruction on the Astral Plane, sometimes on the Causal or Mental Plane. It depends upon the state of consciousness of the individual.
. The person has to learn certain things before they come back, but most of the lessons will come in the next lifetime. Maybe it's not a lesson about something that they needed to learn from the most recent lifetime, but from six, seven, or a hundred lives back.
. But it's all one Soul that just had different personalities in different lifetimes, and each one of these personalities came up with different experiences. Some helped, some hurt.



How To Survive Spiritually In Our Times
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master

. Sri Harold Klemp
. The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master

. Every time you change your consciousness in your daily life, every time you make a decision, there is a death of sorts of the old state of consciousness in order to make room for the new state. Fear comes when the lower self believes that the old state is better. It is familiar, but often is not better. When one follows the Light and Sound, the new state is always better, for each step takes one closer to the heart of SUGMAD. So when the death of an idea or state of consciousness comes, there is no reason for fear or sadness. It is a time for new exploration and wonderment.


In The Company Of ECK Masters
Phil Morimitsu

. Sri Socrates

. Most devoted followers of a teacher are willing - more than willing to give their lives for their master. To die for him in some noble act of martyrdom or other such immature imaginings. But you know, there is always one question I like to put to the followers of a teacher. To go out in one blaze of glory for the Master is too easy. What I'd like to know is would the student be willing to live under any conditions for the Master?
. The fear of life is the same as the fear of death. What happens when you die? At least from a physical point of view, you have nonaction of the physical organism. What happens when you are afraid to live? You have nonaction. You subject yourself to becoming the total effect of your surroundings.
. Similarly, reactions to these fears are the same. When confronted with death, one may react with a flurry of desperate actions in order to prevent it. When one is confronted with having to face life, he may also react in the same way.
. Feelings of sadness and regret are part of this fear too. Take the example of your dog. You felt sad that he was gone from life and regretted that you couldn't take better care of him. Did you do the best you could? he asked.
. Well under the circumstances there was nothing else I could have done. I guess I did all I could. But still, I think there were things I could have done better, I said with remorse.
. He jumped to my defence with equal enthusiasm. Yes, but then we can all do better in retrospect. But that has nothing to do with present reality. The reality of any situation always and only has to do with the immediate circumstances. If you did the best you could at that moment, then that was the only thing you could have done. No more, no less.
. Do you know what makes death and the fear of life so fearful? The illusion of finality! In death, one fears that the final reality for Soul will be the loss of the physical body. No more life, no more love, no more fun! When one fears life, he is afraid that the choices he makes will lock him into a certain limiting state of consciousness, that he won't be able to be free once the choice is made. That he will be frozen in time and space - rendered limited, like death. Rather than risk getting involved with life and the possibility of becoming frozen, he doesn't act or get involved with life at all. This is the truly humorous part, for when one refuses to get involved with the life he's in, then he is truly dead. He has locked himself into inaction - death - the very thing he was trying to avoid!
. Here is the secret of the threes: (1) There is birth, (2) there is sustenance, and (3) there is death. Then the cycle is repeated. This is the reality of the lower worlds, but in the higher worlds there is only one reality - beingness. The cycle of the threes become one constant state of beingness. When you are able to be untouched by peripheral reactions to these cycles, such as fear, feelings of remorse and sadness, then you really start living! Nothing will impede your life, and living becomes the joy and intense bliss it was meant to be.


In The Company Of ECK Masters
Phil Morimitsu

. States Of Consciousness

. God's love shows itself through letting each person find the path to God that is right for that individual. Often people feel that they belong to a superior religion or a superior race. But God has provided a path to fit every person and every group, because we're speaking of states of consciousness.
. You are a state of consciousness, and the group you belong to is a state of consciousness.
. Sometimes you want to say you have a state of consciousness. But the state of consciousness possess you rather than you possessing it. In the same way, some people say, "I have a soul." You are Soul. The Soul consciousness - meaning who and what you are in your true self - has a certain influence, or lack of it, on your behaviour in everyday life. Even if you aren't aware of your behaviour, other people are.
. We know the ins and outs, the ways, thinkings, and feelings of our neighbor, but we suspect he doesn't know ours. We think we know exactly where he's coming from. Of course, the neighbor might be thinking the same thing. It works both ways.


How To Survive Spiritually In Our Times
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master

. The secret and unknown name of God was first given light by the ECK Masters - that which we call HU, the beginning and ending of all.
. The Supreme has been called various names in different languages, but it is known to those who recognize the real wisdom as HU, the name of the nameless one. The word HU is the Spirit of all sounds and of all words, and is hidden under them all as the Spirit of Soul. It does not belong to any language; no language can help belonging to it. This alone is the true name of God, a name that no people and no religion can claim as their own. This word is not only uttered by human beings but it is repeated by animals and birds. All things and beings exclaim this name of the Lord, for every activity of life expresses distinctly this sound. This is the word mentioned in the Bible as existing before light came into this world: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."


Sri Paul Twitchell
The Flute of God

. The experiences of the seekers lead them into realizing that something is beyond the sweetness and light of the leaders they may have been following. Mainly, this comes about for the simple reason that what they have been hearing and reading did not have agreement. Contradictions started them looking deeper into the subject and into their own experiences to find truth. Many learned that they couldn't share their newly hard-won knowledge because of the possible dangerous aspects of spreading truth.
. Once the individual becomes emancipated from the conventions of society he can easily become a criminal in the eyes of that society. Few really want change, peculiarly enough. Few understand that truth reveals itself only to those who seek it and love it. The whole purpose of spiritual training is, therefore, the absolute union with the Divine Self.
. Yet many true seekers have found something. Hazrat Inayat Khan gave me the clue in his writing, "He who depends on his eyes for sight, his ears for hearing and his mouth for speech, is still Dead."


Sri Paul Twitchell
The Flute of God

. Most of the nonessentials of divine wisdom were invented or were openly promoted when Truth was forced to go underground due to persecution by church and state. These two groups did not wish for men to learn lest they observe ways and means of bettering their downtrodden condition and try to overthrow the established orders. The saviors did not have the worldwide means of instantaneous communication which we have today, and could not reach enough to have lasting strength except for a few, like Christ and Buddha. So what we got as holy scriptures was little more than a pale reflection of truth. In many cases, it makes me wonder what is actually hidden in the hearts of many who know , but who will not tell the truth to the masses of people. It has been every man for himself, and much truth has been hidden behind symbolism in the writings of the Magi and wise men of the ages. A lot of guesswork by self-styled savants has been born and written for the public. Students of truth have been compelled to seek truth the best way possible, through records left, through researching among those living who have claimed to know and whose words have had to be tested. A lot of unsound guesswork has been made. Today all seekers have inherited the job of sifting out the useless and trying to rediscover what has been hidden or lost. It is a gargantuan task, and there are few authentic teachers and centers among the thousands of utterly useless promulgators of shallow doctrine.


Sri Paul Twitchell
The Flute of God

. Those who want truth must make the initial effort to find the source of knowledge and to approach it, taking advantage of the help and indications which are given to all, but which people as a rule do not want to see or recognize. Knowledge cannot come to you without effort on your part.
. Strangely, most persons feel that truth can be given to them without much effort. However, this is a wrong attitude for great knowledge is not easy to gather to one's self.
. Many times an individual's independent effort will attain him nothing. It is usually gained through those who already possess it. One should learn from those who know.


Sri Paul Twitchell
The Flute of God

. The truth is that the crowd neither wants nor seeks truth, and the leaders of the crowd, in their own interests, try to strengthen the mass fear and dislike of everything new and unknown. The slavery in which mankind lives is primarily based on this fear of the unknown, this resistance to change, even when it is obvious that the new is good.
. There is no mystery about truth, but the acquisition and the transmission of true knowledge demands both great labor and great effort of him who receives.
. Those who possess this knowledge are doing everything they can to transmit and communicate it to a striving and deserving number of people to facilitate their approach to it and enable them to prepare themselves to receive the truth.


Sri Paul Twitchell
The Flute of God

. Truth is only for those who take the time and trouble to seek it out. Knowledge cannot belong to all, cannot even belong to many. This is the law.
. If knowledge is distributed within a small group then it has a greater advantage than amongst larger numbers of people. It works on the same basis as currency, for if whatever one has in life is too small, it will change nothing for him. On the other hand, large quantities of knowledge will give great advantages. From this point of view, this knowledge sifting down from the higher regions makes it far more advantageous that knowledge be preserved among a smaller number of people and not dispersed among the masses.



Sri Paul Twitchell
The Flute of God

. Love for and Responsibility to All Life

. Harold Klemp says that"The teachings of ECK work on the simple principle that love is the divine current which makes all life possible. We as Soul ride on this current, first of all, away from God. Then, at the farthest point away, at the very end of Its rope, Soul finds the teachings of ECK and can return home.
. "Before this, Soul has despaired of ever finding truth, of ever finding the best way home to God. Throughout Its many sojourns, in Its many lifetimes on earth and on the inner planes, Soul has been granted boons such as instant healings and 'undeserved' riches. All too often the individual has been misled to believe that life is a free ride or that life gives its bounties only to the fortunate. This misunderstanding has brought confusion.
. But when we come to ECK, we find that the games of illusion come to an end.... Finally we reach the understanding that everything we do, everything that happens to us, is for our own spiritual good and of our own making. At the end of the road we realize that the spiritual path is about love for all, self responsibility, and responsibility to all life."


ECKANKAR Ancient Wisdom for Today
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master

. To Become a Member of Eckankar

. One of the benefits of membership is that you receive discourses, or spiritual study lessons. During your first two years, you study spiritual exercises and dreams. You will unfold at your own pace. You can stay in your present religion. In fact, its teachings will probably become clearer than ever. You will probably notice an acceleration of change, but you'll always have the means at hand to understand why change is taking place.
. With each year of ECK membership, you will receive a new series of lessons for your personal study. You can also join an ECK Satsang class studying any of the lessons you have received. ECK classes offer a comfortable setting in which class members can share experiences, insights, and questions.
. It is not until the end of a two-year period, when you're invited to receive your Second Initiation, that you decide whether to make a more lasting commitment to your spiritual awakening. After your Second Initiation, your life is transformed. You enter a new world of possibilities.


ECKANKAR Ancient Wisdom for Today
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master

. Life Becomes Miraculous

. When you let God into your life, divine love also enters. Experiences and coincidences you would have discounted as trivial before now, become miraculous. Life itself is rich, and you discover the joy of service and charity. God's love awakens your heart. You find this love in the eyes of the Living ECK Master and in the eyes of friends and family.
. You'll be given the keys to the future and the past. Events and experiences will speak to you in a way you've never known before. You can begin to see cycles and connections between your life and timeless wisdom. The waking dream and Golden-tongue Wisdom open your inner eyes and ears to the Voice of God.


ECKANKAR Ancient Wisdom for Today
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master

. Become Liberated from Being the Victim

. In time, past lives are revealed to you. You discover the role of karma and reincarnation in spiritual unfoldment. You become liberated from being the victim. You learn you are responsible, but you discover that the responsibility is not a weight. It is a key to spiritual freedom. You are the creator of your life; and by taking responsibility for your actions and learning from your experiences, you earn wisdom and spiritual maturity.
. As your relationship with the Inner Master matures, you also become more aware of the God Worlds. You explore other planes, even other planets. You meet ECK Masters, and the universe opens up for you. The process of God-Realization begins. You let God enter more fully into your life.


ECKANKAR Ancient Wisdom for Today
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master

. Prove It for Yourself

. As reported in the Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad, the ECK Master Gopal Das once said, "Those who follow the ECK take nothing for granted, for they must prove it for themselves. Only then will they know that God so loved them that He sent a Living ECK Master to bring Souls home to Him."

. Understand Who You Really Are

. As you begin to study the teachings of Eckankar, you may accelerate your spiritual growth. By practising the Spiritual Exercises of Eckankar, you can learn to Soul Travel. You begin to understand who you really are: That you're here for a spiritual purpose. You can let go of your fear of death. You worry less. You invite more love into your life. You feel energized and grow and change. Undesirable habits begin to fall away.
. You begin to understand the nature and importance of dreams. The dream becomes a teaching tool. The Dream Master is the teacher. He helps you look unabashedly at your innermost fears and desires, and helps you come to terms with them. The ultimate purpose of dreams is to bring you closer to the Light and Sound of God.


ECKANKAR Ancient Wisdom for Today
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master

. The Play of Soul

. The play of Soul is like a drama in which Soul is both the actor and audience. On entering the theatre the audience knows that it is about to see a play, but the actor creates Maya, an illusion of reality which gives the audience extreme emotions of joy and terror, laughter or tears. It is in the joy and sorrow of all beings that Soul, as audience, is carried away by Itself as the actor.

The Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad
Book One

. Eckankar Is a Living Religion

. The great beauty of Eckankar is that it is a living religion. It's not bogged down with credos and dogmas. It evolves as our consciousness evolves. We do not worship the Living ECK Master. He is a guide to be respected, loved and honored. He is not an icon to be worshipped. You may study many books and attend classes or lectures, but your real learning comes from inside yourself and from your experiences.


ECKANKAR Ancient Wisdom for Today
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master

. It's Natural to Question

. The God Worlds of ECK are vast and can be quite confusing to the uninitiated. Am I on the Astral Plane? Am I on the best path? Is this a true spiritual experience, or am I deluding myself? Where are the signposts? How far is the goal? What is the goal? It is natural under such circumstances to seek out a guide. We look for someone who has travelled the road before and can now show us the way.

. The ECKist's Goal Is Spiritual Mastery

. The goal of every ECKist is to experience life to the fullest, which means being a CO-worker with God. That is spiritual mastery. Some of us may eventually serve on earth as "guardian angel" ECK Masters, while others will pursue specialized interest in the spiritual worlds.



ECKANKAR Ancient Wisdom for Today
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master

. The Living ECK Master Takes on Karma but Doesn't Relieve It

. The Mahanta also takes over the karma of his followers. This does not mean he will relieve anyone of their karma, for this could mean they would be deprived of an experience they may need. But it means their karmic experience will be organized in such a way they can better understand the lessons being offered.
. If we open our hearts, we will be able to see what our experiences are telling us about our attitudes and our own spiritual nature. The Mahanta also tells us we will never receive more than we can handle. Our karma is regulated in such a way that, if we listen to our spiritual guidance, we won't be overloaded, lose our balance, and fall off the spiritual path.


ECKANKAR Ancient Wisdom for Today
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master

. The Living ECK Master Is Not Worshiped

. In Eckankar, the Living ECK Master is not idolized. He is given respect and love, but he is not worshipped. It is the Master's function, not his personality, that is important. Thus when the Mastership is passed from one person to another, the spiritual life of the ECKist need not change.



ECKANKAR Ancient Wisdom for Today
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master

Dhyana Technique

The Dhyana technique is simple: you gaze steadily at the shining face of the Living ECK Master on the inner screen of the mind. Keep this exercise to a half hour maximum unless you are getting results. These results should be that the Master steps into your attention and begins to lift you out of the body to start traveling into the higher worlds.

When you have your attention fixed on the Master's image, start singing his name. You can sing Harji, Wah Z, or simply Z. The Living ECK Master awaits you in his radiant form. He is always here looking for his beloved follower to arrive in Soul body.

—Sri Harold Klemp
The Spiritual Exercises of ECK

. The Mahanta Is the Inner Form of the Living ECK Master

. The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master is the spiritual leader of Eckankar. The Mahanta is the inner, or spiritual, form of the Living ECK Master, which most ECKist work with on a daily basis. Few can physically converse with the Living ECK Master because of physical-world limitations. But the Mahanta is available to all at every moment.


ECKANKAR Ancient Wisdom for Today
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master

. With the Living ECK Master as Guide, We Experience Only What Is Necessary for Spiritual Growth

. The ECK Masters have made the same spiritual journey and have come to understand the road. They know the shortest route. We can save enormous wear and tear by following their lead back to God. Without a spiritual guide, the journey home can be long and arduous. With the Living ECK Master as our guide, we experience only what is necessary for our spiritual growth. The purpose of the Living ECK Master is to show us the way home to God.


ECKANKAR Ancient Wisdom for Today
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta the Living ECK Master

. Few Religions Resemble the Spiritual Teaching Given by the Founders

. Very few religions of today resemble the spiritual teaching given by their founders. Christianity has gone through many changes, and the Bible has seen many edits. As a result, what is written may bear little resemblance to what Christ actually said. The purpose of a living Master is to prevent such misdirection of the original spiritual truths. The Master is the Living Word.


ECKANKAR Ancient Wisdom for Today
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta the Living ECK Master

. There Is Always a Living ECK Master

. Eckankar always has a living Master. The Living ECK Master makes sure the spiritual essence of the teachings remains pure even though the outer form and shape of Eckankar might change.
. Each Living ECK Master is responsible for training and appointing his successor. There are always a number of individuals who are quietly in training to become the next Living ECK Master. The spiritual training is rigorous, and many do not pass the required tests. Only one is chosen.


ECKANKAR Ancient Wisdom for Today
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta the Living ECK Master

. The Living ECK Master Grants Total Spiritual Freedom to His Students

. The prime mission of the Mahanta the Living ECK Master is to lead Soul home to God. The Master always grants total spiritual freedom to his students. They are never controlled or manipulated, and they have complete freedom of choice in every aspect of life. The ECK Masters have attained spiritual freedom for themselves and would like to share this joy with as many Souls as want it.


ECKANKAR Ancient Wisdom for Today
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta the Living ECK Master

. We Are Never Given More Than We Can Handle

. The Mahanta also works with each ECKist in the dream state. When we dream, we simply operate in a different state of consciousness. We have less resistance to Divine Spirit, and we can more easily receive the guidance of the Master. The ECKist finds many spiritual issues are resolved while dreaming, and Eckankar provides instructions which helps us remember and understand our dreams.


ECKANKAR Ancient Wisdom for Today
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta the Living ECK Master

. You Can Be Free from Fear

. A common expression in Eckankar is that the Master is always with you. The Mahanta gives spiritual protection in a number of ways. Just like on earth the inner heavens contain both good and bad elements. Some of us stumble onto certain areas of the Astral Plane and become frightened. Without knowing why, other people are plagued by fears through out their life. And still others, particularly in the developing nations, have serious concerns about witchcraft and voodoo. The Mahanta provides a cloak of protection for his students so they can grow and learn spiritually without fear.


ECKANKAR Ancient Wisdom for Today
Sri Harold Klemp
The Mahanta the Living ECK Master